Capturing carbon : the new weapon in the war against climate change? / Robin M. Mills.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The need to capture carbon -- Capture technology -- Transport and storage -- Bio-sequestration -- Scale, costs and economics -- Policy -- Risks. Need to Capture Carbon -- What is Carbon Capture? -- Climate Change is Real, and a Threat -- Carbon Fuels are Abundant -- Carbon Fuels Will Continue to be Used -- Carbon Capture is Feasible Today -- Carbon Capture is not only about Fossil Fuel Electricity -- No Single Solution to Climate Change is Perfect or Sufficient -- Capture can Tackle Carbon Dioxide Already in the Atmosphere -- Portfolio of Solutions is Required -- Risks to CCS -- 2. Capture Technology -- Capture Techniques -- Power Station Capture -- Post-Combustion -- Pre-Combustion -- Oxyfuel -- Sec̀ond Generation' Techniques -- Comparison of Capture Options -- Industrial Capture -- Environmental Impacts -- Air Capture -- Decarbonising Transport -- Conclusion -- 3. Transport and Storage -- Transport -- Practical Uses -- Storage Sites -- Enhanced Oil Recovery -- Enhanced Gas Recovery -- Enhanced CBM -- Depleted Oil- and Gasfields -- Saline Aquifers -- Other Underground Storage Options -- Underground Coal Gasification -- Ocean Storage -- Mineralisation -- Storage Capacity -- Probability of Leakage -- Hazards of Leakage -- Monitoring and Remediation -- Conclusion -- 4. Bio-sequestration -- Biomass -- Forestation -- Land- Use and Soils -- Carbon Sequestration and Biochar -- Ocean Fertilisation and Other Geo-Engineering -- 5. Scale, Costs and Economics -- CCS's Role in Emission Reductions -- Scale of a Global Carbon Capture Industry -- Cost of CCS -- Capture Costs: Principles -- Capture Costs: Current Systems -- Capture Costs: Future Systems -- Capture Costs: Potential for Cost Reductions -- Transport Costs -- Storage Costs -- Total Cost -- Air Capture -- Capacity and Cost of Biological and Land- Use Sequestration -- Costs at the Macroeconomic Level -- Carbon Pricing for Capture to Take Off -- Competitiveness Against Other Low-Carbon Approaches -- Long-Term Costs and Scale -- Conclusion -- 6. Policy -- Carbon Abatement Policies -- Need for Government Action -- Short Term: Need to Start Soon -- Near-Term Policies -- Commercialisation Phase -- Longer Term: Paying the Cost of Carbon -- Bio-sequestration Funding -- Legal Framework -- International Perspectives -- Current Projects -- Europe -- USA -- Canada -- Asia -- Australia -- Latin America -- Middle East and North Africa -- Business Opportunities -- Human Angle -- Long Term -- 7. Risks -- Technical -- Costs -- Environment -- Safety -- Public Acceptability -- Institutional -- Risks to Biological Sequestration -- Combining the Risks -- 8. Conclusions.

We now possess the technology to capture carbon emissions as they are released into the atmosphere. After capture, the gas is trapped within facilities hidden far underground. As promising as this process sounds, can it really compete with the often cheaper, low-carbon technologies currently available, and is the practice really safe and eco-friendly? Furthermore, will governments and societies embrace this controversial method and integrate it fully into their economic markets? This book evaluates this issue, describing the need for this new technology and the components that make it work. The author, a longtime energy professional with a background in geology and economics, paints an accessible portrait of carbon capture's existing and projected technologies. He covers the specifics of geological storage and, interestingly, compares it to the biological sequestering of carbon occurring naturally in soils and forests. In this analysis, he considers the costs of this process and its value in curbing climate change. He tackles the politics and policies that will help the technology take root, and he anticipates the public's reaction and opportunities for business. He also accounts for the risks of carbon capture, rounding out the volume for environmentalists, policymakers, investors, industry insiders, and anyone wishing to understand these new developments.